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This Week's Carenote - 05/24/11

Are a lot of you sad a lot...lonely, even though you may
have a spouse or someone helping you take care of an elderly
parent? I have a spouse who helps (it is his mom), but
during the day he works and I am the sole caregiver. She is
88 and must be assisted. She cannot hear very well at all,
so conversations do not really exist. I love her, but this
is such a big adjustment for me. We never had children to
care for, now we have her. I cry sometimes just to release
the stress. (I do not let her see.) And then I feel guilty.
I just get so tired, sad, and lonely that I just want to run
away and let someone else take over. Is this a normal
feeling? We have decided to wait until she is totally
dependent before we bring in help, which is okay. I have
friends who would sit with her if I needed or wanted them
to. I hate watching her go downhill. Her other sons take her
on the weekends, but bring her back at night, so we do get a
little relief from the constant care. She has only been here
going on four weeks and I feel trapped already. Am I
awful to feel this way? Will I get better?